the disease. These may include:
- Increasing and persistent forgetfulness. At its onset, Alzheimer's disease is marked by periods of forgetfulness, especially of recent events or simple directions. But what begins as mild forgetfulness persists and worsens. People with Alzheimer's may repeat things and forget conversations or appointments. They routinely misplace things, often putting them in illogical locations. They frequently forget names, and eventually, they may forget the names of family members and everyday objects.
- Difficulties with abstract thinking. People with Alzheimer's may initially have trouble balancing their checkbook, a problem that progresses to trouble recognizing and dealing with numbers.
- Difficulty finding the right word. It may be a challenge for those with Alzheimer's to find the right words to express thoughts or even follow conversations. Eventually, reading and writing also are affected.
- Disorientation. People with Alzheimer's often lose their sense of time and dates, and may find themselves lost in familiar surroundings.
- Loss of judgment. Solving everyday problems, such as knowing what to do if food on the stove is burning, becomes increasingly difficult, eventually impossible. Alzheimer's is characterized by greater difficulty in doing things that require planning, decision making and judgment.
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks. Once-routine tasks that require sequential steps, such as cooking, become a struggle as the disease progresses. Eventually, people with advanced Alzheimer's may forget how to do even the most basic things.
- Personality changes. People with Alzheimer's may exhibit mood swings. They may express distrust in others, show increased stubbornness and withdraw socially. Early on, this may be a response to the frustration they feel as they notice uncontrollable changes in their memory. Depression often coexists with Alzheimer's disease. Restlessness also is a common sign. As the disease progresses, people with Alzheimer's may become anxious or aggressive and behave inappropriately.
Because early Alzheimer's symptoms progress slowly, diagnosis is often delayed. People developing the condition may be frighteningly aware of their problems - but careful to keep them hidden, refusing to see a doctor. As a result, even their families may fail to see what's going on. When the signs and symptoms are too obvious to miss, those closest to the person often realize that similar - but less severe - difficulties have been present for years.
The disease's course varies from person to person. Eight years is the average length of time from diagnosis of Alzheimer's to death. Survival begins to decline three years after diagnosis, but some people live more than a decade with the disease.
